# 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers season

The 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers season was the first season of the new team, and the club's eleventh season in professional soccer. It is also the first ever incarnation of the club's new name. Previously they were known as the Miami Toros. The 1977 squad won the North American Soccer League's Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference, and was the top team in regular season with 19 victories for 161 points.

## Background
### First ever match

The Strikers first-ever game was a preseason indoor match played on February 27, 1977 at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Though only an exhibition, this was the first meeting in what was to become one of the most enduring rivalries in North American soccer, the Florida Derby. It would also set the tone for many years of indoor frustration for the Strikers as they fell, 9–8, to the hosts.

#### Match report
## Competitions
### Friendlies

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| February 27, 1977 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Bayfront Center | 9–8 | 5,016 (indoor) | Sharp (3), Mulroy, Nanchoff, Ceballos, Chadwick, Hamlyn |
| March 5, 1977 | Rollins College Tars | Sandspur Bowl | 1–6 | | |
| March 12, 1977 | Washington Diplomats | Wilde Lake High School | 3–2 | 1,093 | Sergio Ceballos (2) |
| March 13, 1977 | Washington Diplomats | City Stadium | 3–4 | | David Chadwick, Fred Pereira, Sergio Ceballos, Curtis Leeper |
| March 26, 1977 | Miami Dade South | MDC South Campus | | | |
| March 27, 1977 | FIU Sunblazers | FIU Soccer Stadium | 0–5 | 1,100 | |
| April 6, 1977 | Rochester Lancers | Lockhart Stadium | 2–0 | | Bobby Bell, Tony Whelan |
| June 10, 1977 | S.S. Lazio | Lockhart Stadium | 1–4 | 3,500 | Norman Piper |
| October 2, 1977 | Business Machines, Inc. | Leonard High School | 2–3 | 500 | Tony Whelan, David Proctor, Mike Fazee |

### NASL regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= point system
6 points for a win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.

#### Atlantic Conference

| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | BP | Pts | Home | Road |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 19 | 7 | 49 | 29 | 47 | 161 | 11–2 | 8–5 |
| Cosmos | 15 | 11 | 60 | 39 | 50 | 140 | 10–3 | 5–8 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 14 | 12 | 55 | 45 | 47 | 131 | 11–2 | 3–10 |
| Washington Diplomats | 10 | 16 | 32 | 49 | 32 | 92 | 6–7 | 4–9 |
| Northern Division | W | L | GF | GA | BP | Pts | Home | Road |
| Toronto Metros-Croatia | 13 | 13 | 42 | 38 | 37 | 115 | 8–5 | 5–8 |
| St. Louis Stars | 12 | 14 | 33 | 35 | 32 | 104 | 7–6 | 5–8 |
| Rochester Lancers | 11 | 15 | 34 | 41 | 33 | 99 | 10–3 | 1–12 |
| Chicago Sting | 10 | 16 | 31 | 43 | 28 | 88 | 4–9 | 6–7 |
| Connecticut Bicentennials | 7 | 19 | 34 | 65 | 30 | 72 | 4–9 | 3–10 |

#### Match reports
### NASL Playoffs
#### Divisional Championships

| Higher seed | | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | (lower seed hosts Game 1) |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | – | Cosmos | 3–8 | 2–3 (SO, 0–3) | August 14 • Giants Stadium • 77,691 August 17 • Lockhart Stadium 14,152 |

#### Bracket

| First Round | First Round | First Round | Division Championships | Division Championships | Division Championships | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | | Soccer Bowl '77 | Soccer Bowl '77 | Soccer Bowl '77 |
| E2 | Cosmos | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| E3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| E3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0 | E1 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | E2 | Cosmos | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | E2 | Cosmos | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | N3 | Rochester Lancers | 0 | | | | |
| N2 | St. Louis Stars | 0(2) | | | | | | | N3 | Rochester Lancers | 0 | | | | |
| N3 | Rochester Lancers | 0(4) | | | | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Rochester Lancers | 0(4) | N1 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | N3 | Rochester Lancers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | E2 | Cosmos | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | | | W3 | Seattle Sounders | 1 |
| S2 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | W3 | Seattle Sounders | 1 |
| S3 | San Jose Earthquakes | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| S3 | San Jose Earthquakes | 1 | S1 | Dallas Tornado | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | S2 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | S2 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 0 | | | | |
| | | | | | | W3 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | | |
| W2 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0 | | | | | | | W3 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | | |
| W3 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| W3 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | W1 | Minnesota Kicks | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | W3 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | | | | | |